Folding typewriter platform for pedestal desks



Feb. 21, 1950 v J. H. BRINKER ET-AL 2,498,243

FOLDING TYPEWRITER PLATFORM FOR PEOESTAL- DEsxs FiledMaron 27;*1947 EaZ.

- i 34E zo" ALIM' www ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 2l, 1950 UN [TED STATES OJF ICE-5 FOLDING TYPEWRITER PLATFORM Fon PEDESTALDESKS f John H.Brinkerr 'and Frank Conley; Norwood".-

Ohio, `assi'gfnorsrI to The trl'ollei-'Werliiclre` Cov, Y Norwood-,210mm a col-poration offOhion Application March :27, 1947., SerialNo. 731,680.

1v This invention relates to a folding" typewriter platform for pedestal desks and may be' con# sidered as an improvement on the structurel disclosed" and claimed in the Link patent, No.V

2,289,664, dated July 14, 1942. In that patent there isY disclosed a structure in which a type'- writer platform is provided in a pedestal type desk in which there is a track mounted on an inside wall of the pedestal and a runner is mounted for in and out movement onsaid track.k The typewriter shelf is hinged to said runner so that when notV in use the' shelf occupies a vertical position within the pedestal. Means are provided whereby the shelf mustv be fully. withdrawn before it can be raised' tov its working position and means are provided whereby it must be fully .low'` ered to its vertical position before it `c-anbe pushed into the pedestal. Latchingl means for latchingv the shelf in its working position are also shown.v

It is an object of our present invention to pro.- vide certain improvements over this structure of;

said patent and particularly in. the. latching..

means for holding the shelf inits working. position and in the means. for insuring that the shelf. is returned to its vertical position before it can. be pushed into the pedestal. y

It is another object of our invention to provide a latch having releasing means so. disposedthat.

when the shelf is normallygrasped withthaha-nd. in order to lower it, the fingers will naturally come`-- into a position to -actuate` thev latch to. releaseitL It. is a stilll further object of our:` invention to provide a latchwhich is` concealed fromview sor` that it cannot accidentally beactuated `to causev` the shelf to drop.

Thesey and other objectsv of our invention.. which willv be pointed out in more detail hereinafter-or i which will be apparent to one skilled in the arty upon reading these specications, weV accomplish by that certain construction and arrangementot parts of which we shall nowdescribeanexemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the drawings forming; a

part hereof and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view ofV a desk to which our invention. may be applied.vv

Fig.v 2 is apartial front elevational` view ofthe same with the pedestal door open and. showing the shelf in its workingr position.

Fig 3 is a cross sectional view. onan enlarged. T

scale taken on theline 3--3 of.- Fig.. 2.l

Fig. 4' is a fragmentary cross. sectio'nalview 'onV a still larger scale taken on the line4 df-dfofvliiga.

Fig. 5y is a Viewy similar toliig..4 butlshowing theA shelf in itsV vertical' position.

,2 Figi' Gis a bottom" view ofthe shelf` itself. Fi`g."7 isa. fragmentarycross sectional view taken 'onthe' line 1"-'1 of. Fig.4.

Fig.' 8 isv a fragmentary vi'ewon a greatly'en larged scale of the latch mechanism', shown 'ini Fig". '9 is' a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the channel.l

The desk to whichfourinvention is applied. may

be a 'pedestal desk, such as is shown' in Fig. 1,.u

in which the typewriter shelf is arranged. in the left hand pedestal. Theleft hand. pedestal, instead' ofA containing, drawers. is' providedA with a door Ill", which extends the full height of the pedestal compartment. A track II is mounted' on the inside of the pedestal compartment adjacent the top thereof', and a runner I2 is arranged to ride on the'track- II'. Thespeci'c runner construction isV fully disclosed in the above mentioned Link patent. and will thereforer not be discussed further.

The shelf' 2U ishinged asiat I3 to the runner I2 and hasalong its. edge, opposite the hinged edge,

the. channel I4'. Mounted on the inside ofthe u pedestal compartment is a bracketr I5 carrying a roller I6,fwhichf when. the shelf is in the position shown in Fig. 5,1rides. on the inside of the channel I4f. The `channel. I4 has afcut out portion, indi-` cated. at, Iii in Fig. 6,Y of. sufficient, widthl to pass.

the roller I 6?,.and the cut outl portion Il is so located with yreference tothe roller I6. that the.

shelf II can-.only bey raised when the shelf hasl been fullyl withdrawn. The foregoingl structurey is. `describedfin considerable detaillin the Link patent to which. reference has'beenmade.

The abutment I8 provided on. the track II and as shown., itY may simply be: struck outl from the .material ofthe track. lLikewise, an abutmentJBY is. provided on. the runner I2',` which abutment/I8. may also) bestruck outI fromr the.

material .of-the. runner.. The engagement of the abutments.- I .8y andi-I Gf determines thelimitof withdrawalof. the. shelf from the y pedestal...

p In order toinsure thatv the shelf is lowered to.l its. verticali position with the. roller I6 in. positionv in' the channel! I4 before theshel-f can. be pushed into ther pedestal, the arrangement best shown in. Figs. 4 5, and 7 is provided. Pivoted.` at 2|: on

the runner" I1 is a latch member, Yindicatedgenerally at. 22. The member 22 Ahas a latchi-ngy portionlwhich is so disposed. that it. can. engagetheA other side' of the. abutment I8 when the .shelf is, fullyvr withdrawn and the abutments I.8 and I9 are'. engaged. Y('seeVv Fig'..7). Aleaf1 spring 2li.. bear-.- ing"againstv 'the latchme'mber 22'" on the arm opposite the member 23, tends to urge the latching portion 23 into latching position, which is the position seen in Fig. 7. The end of the latch member 22, opposite the latching portion 23, has an extension 25 disposed substantially at right angles to the runner l2. The extension 25 is of such length that it will be abutted by the shelf 2Q when the latter is lowered to its vertical position. As the member 25 is depressed by the shelf, rocking the member 22 in a clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 7, the latching portion 2t is moved out of engagement with the abutment i8. A piece oi the material from the cut-out portion l is bent outwardly to form the lip ita as best seen in Fig. 9. The lip Ia serves to guide the roller iii into the aperture il, and cooperates with the mechanism just described to prevent pushingthe shelf into the pedestal, until the roller it is cause of the inter-engagement of the notch 31 and the pin 34, which also holds the latch against longitudinal movement. The latch is conned vertically by the walls of the channel i4.

In raising the shelf the action of the latch is automatic in that, as the shelf approaches the position of Fig. 4, the nose 28 thereof will touch the corner brace member 2l in the region indicated at 2id in l and as the shelf is brought to its working position, the surface oi the member 2l acts as a cam surface depressing the latch,

v until the position of Fig. 4 is reached when the properly positioned within the channel id. The

length of the member 25 is such that the portion A coaction between the roller l@ and the channel In said Link patent latching means were provided for latching the shelf in its workingl position, and the actuating means for the latch were disposed on top of the shelf where it was possible that the latch could be actuated accidentally. According to our present invention, this latch is disposed under the shelf 20. As best seen in Fig. 8, an aperture 2t is provided in the pedestal corner brace member 2l and the latch has an engaging portion 28 adapted to engage in the aperture 2S to hold the shell in its working position. It may be mentioned at this point that a heavy spring it extends between the plate Sil, which is fastened to or is integral with the runner i2 and an extension 3i of the channel i4. This spring tends to counterbalance the weight of the shelf and typewriter, to assist in raising the typewriter sheli to its working position, and to prevent the shelf from dropping too abruptly when the latch is released. An adjustable stop 32 is provided, as shown in Fig. 4, to limit the upward movement of the shelf and by adjustment oi the abutment 32, the fit of the member 28 in the aperture 2E can be made as snug as desired, so that when the shell is in its working position, there will be no play or rattle between the parts.

Returning to the Alatch member, we dispose it within the channel le With the portion 28 projecting through the cut out 33 in the wall of the channel Ul. The latch itself is simply a long strip of metal pivoted near its center at 3d and having the simple spring 35 disposed between the manual portion of the latch 36 and the wall of the channel it. As clearly shown in Fig. 8the latch mayl have its center portion deformed to provide the notch 3l which accommodates the pin 34.

This latch may easily be assembled as follows: the latch member itself is slipped into the channel with its nose extending through the aperture 33 and with the spring 35 under the arm 35. The pin 3f is then pushed through appropriate holes in the channel Ui and the assembly is completed. The latch member cannot come out laterally belatch springs into latching position under the influence of the spring 35.

When it is desired to lower the shelf the shelf may be grasped with the right hand, palm up, with the lingers extending up into the channel i4 where they normally engage the manual portion 355, As soon as the latch is free, the shelf tends to drop, but the drop is restrained by the tension of the spring 2li and the operator can manually lower the shelf to the position of Fig. 5 without danger.

lt will be clear that various modifications may be made in our specic structure without departing from the spirit of the invention and we therefore do not intend to limit ourselves, except as set forth in the claims which follow.

Having now fully described. our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a pedestal typewriter desk structure in which there is a track mounted on an inside wall of said pedestal and a runner is mounted for movement longitudinally of said track, there being a typewriter shelf hingedly secured to said runner, and a channel shaped track extending substantially the full length of the edge of said shelf opposite said hinged edge, and in which there is a roller mounted on said wall in a position to engage in said channel shaped track when said shelf is in a substantially vertical position, and in which there is a cutout portion in said track, said roller being so disposed with respect to said cut out portion that it may pass therethrough only when said shelf is in its fully withdrawn position; an abutment on said track and a latch on said runner so located that it is in a position to enage said abutment when. said shelf is in its fully withdrawn position, means tending to urge said latch to engaging position when said shelf is lifted, so that said shelf cannot be pushed in, said shelf when brought to the vertical position rendering said last mentioned means inoperative so that the shelf may then be pushed in.

2. The structure oi claim l, in which said latch is pivoted betweenits ends so as to be rockable about a vertical axis, spring means tending to rock said latch to a position in which one end thereof is in latching position, and a projection on the other end or said latch oi such length as to be engaged by said shelf at a point substantially where said roller is passing through said cut out portion.

' 3. The structure oiA claim l in which there is also an abutment on said runner, and in which contact between said abutment on said runner and said abutment on said track determines the limit of forward movement of said runner with respect to said track.

d. In a pedestal typewriter desk structure in which there is a typewriter shelf mounted in said pedestal for sliding movement into and outof said pedestal in a Vertical position, said shelf being raisabl-e when fully withdrawn from said pedestal to a horizontal working position, said shelf having a channel underneath its free side; an aperture in said pedestal on the users side thereof, a latch member disposed within said channel and having a manually engageable por-` tion, and having a latching portion extending through said channel for engaging in said aperture to hold said shelf in working position, the manually engageable portion of said latch being disposed in said channel in a position to be contacted by the fingers when said shelf is grasped normally by the hands with the fingers under the shelf and entering said channel.

5. The structure of claim 4, in which said latch is constituted of a strip of metal and is provided with a substantially semicircular notch at about its center, said strip being formed at one end to provide a latching portion, the other end constituting a manually engageable member.

6. The structure of claim 5, in which said latch is assembled to said partially closed channel by means of a pin passing through parallel walls of said channel, said latch being disposed with said semicircular notch passing between said pin and a wall of said channel whereby JOHN H. BRINKER. FRANK CONLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNTED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,028,767 Mooney June 4, 1912 1,304,991 Kuehl May 27, 1919 2,277,703 Kennedy Mar. 31, 1942 2,289,664 Link July 14, 1942 

